New Year's Resolutions

2014 is hovering in only a few more hours. New Years is always the appropriate time to commit to make changes in one’s life. We like to make resolutions focusing on health issues. Our most common resolutions include losing weight, exercising more and complaining less.
I have in the past resolved to lose weight. I have succeeded from time to time and yet eventually that resolve falls to the wayside as an extra dessert tempts me, or I see a thick juicy ribeye in the meat case and instead of buying one to share with my wife, I buy two and they are both barbecued at the same time. And so the cycle of weight gain and weight loss repeats itself.
Those are the little things that most of us commit to.
But politicians make bigger resolutions all intended to keep their jobs in coming years.
Our provincial and National leaders hope that the cycle of errors will not be repeated again this year. Their resolutions are much more encompassing.
Even the mayor of Toronto hopes that he won’t repeat his indiscretions again in 2014.
Rob Ford has made a resolution to avoid using his cell phone, or associating with less desirable felons. He hopes that the electorate will have forgotten some of his sins from 2013.
Kathleen Wynn is hoping that the electorate of Ontario will forget how her predecessor spent a billion dollars of Ontario taxpayer’s money to cancel gas generation plants in Mississauga to win a minority government. And that contributed greatly to the long term debt of the province. Even though her government has proposed a 10¢ a liter gas tax to build rapid transit for Toronto and Hamilton, her resolution is to make it invisible to the rest of Ontario. It could be quite the magic trick.
Having been burned three times in the past year by Conservative Senators, Stephen Harper’s resolution is to fill the seven vacancies without the headaches that were generated from his 2008 appointments when he selected Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau to fill Senate vacancies. He is resolved to never appoint another news person to the Senate. Maybe the resolution will be to have seven elections as part of his new year’s resolution. That way only the electorate will in future take the blame for the actions of the senators. They can all sit as independents.
Across the Rainy River District every Chief, Reeve and Mayor has made a resolution to make it possible and are committed to making the New Gold mine proceed with beginning in 2014. It will be important that the price of gold stops dropping to attract the capital to develop the mine.
Locally, there are several wives of councilors who have made the resolution to have their husbands walk away from hundreds of meetings on November 30, 2014. We will quickly find out how well their resolutions are being followed by their spouses.
If you haven’t made your resolutions, fear not, for most people lose their will power to carry through within a few weeks. And if you don’t make a resolution, you can’t fail nor can you succeed.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher